Alzheimer’s Disease – Page 2

Alzheimer's Disease, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Blood test detects Alzheimer’s disease

May 30, 2020

Researchers have created a simple blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease.

The blood test accurately measures one of the proteins—P-tau181—implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to a new study.

Blood P-tau181 indirectly measures tau hyperphosphorylation in the brain, which is one of the hallmarks of the disease along with the clumpy plaques caused by the protein amyloid β.

Prior to this discovery, detecting the proteins and confirming an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis was possible only through expensive PET scans, invasive lumbar punctures, or autopsy.

The search for an Alzheimer’s disease blood test has been years in the making, but a test sensitive enough to detect tau long eluded researchers.

Continue reading… “Blood test detects Alzheimer’s disease”

Alzheimer's Disease, Machine Learning, new technology, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Five key ideas you need to understand now if you want to be ready for the world of 2030

April 14, 2019

With a new series of the BBC science podcast Futureproofing on air this month, presenter Timandra Harkness explains how to get ready for the world of the future.

Just a building that keeps the rain out and your clean underwear in? Think again. The home of 2030 will be smart, connected and emotional.

“Our notion of home will change drastically,” says Sce Pike, CEO of Oregon-based IOTAS. “The notion of home is no longer four walls and a roof and a place, a location, but actually something that travels with you throughout your life.”

How does it do that? By learning your preferences and your habits, and automatically adjusting the light, heat, even your TV channels, before you have to ask. “It’s about how that home reacts to you and makes you comfortable,” says Pike.

Continue reading… “Five key ideas you need to understand now if you want to be ready for the world of 2030”

Alzheimer's Disease, cutting edge, Genes, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

A novel dementia treatment will flood people’s brains with a low-risk version of a key gene.

March 7, 2019

No one knows for certain what causes Alzheimer’s disease. But one fact about the condition has gained nearly irrefutable status. Depending on what versions of a gene called APOE you inherit, your risk of the brain disorder can be half the average—or more than 12 times as high.

Sometimes called “the forgetting gene,” APOE comes in three common versions, called 2, 3, and 4. Type 2 lowers a person’s risk, 3 is average, and 4 increases the chance dramatically. The risk is so great that doctors avoid testing people for APOE because a bad result can be upsetting, and there’s nothing to do about it. There’s no cure, and you can’t change your genes, either.

Well, today you can’t. But doctors in New York City say that beginning in May, they will start testing a novel gene therapy in which people with the unluckiest APOE genes will be given a huge dose to their brain of the low-risk version.

Continue reading… “A novel dementia treatment will flood people’s brains with a low-risk version of a key gene.”

Alzheimer's Disease, Biotech, Breakthrough Thinking, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine

We can now grow perfect human blood vessels in a lab

February 3, 2019

The latest game changer in diabetes research might not be a new drug or a therapy. Instead, it could be a system of human blood vessels virtually identical to the ones currently transporting blood throughout your body.

What makes these blood vessels special is that they are the first ones grown in a lab — and they’ve already generated a new lead in diabetes treatment.

Continue reading… “We can now grow perfect human blood vessels in a lab”

Alzheimer's Disease, Analysis, Health & Fitness, Human Behavior

New research says men who marry intelligent women live longer

January 10, 2019

New research has shown that if a man wants to live a long healthy life, marrying a smart woman will go a long way in fulfilling this desire. Besides increasing longevity, having an intelligent wife can negate the chances of a man catching dementia. The right partner will definitely help enrich a person’s life.

However, intelligence is not the only criteria for a happy relationship. Compatibility is another key factor. Just like the old adage says ‘do not judge a book by its cover,’ so too a person’s outward appearance should not be the yardstick for the selection of a partner. Younger people are generally attracted to the physical aspects of a person and sometimes fail to look beyond that. This often results in bad relationships or marriages in the later years. Choosing mind over matter can, therefore, have great benefits for both.

Continue reading… “New research says men who marry intelligent women live longer”

AI, Alzheimer's Disease, Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

Deep learning algorithm detects Alzheimer’s up to six years before doctors

November 17, 2018

A new algorithm significantly outperformed human clinicians in predicting which patients would go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

A powerful new deep learning algorithm has been developed that can study PET scan images and effectively detect the onset of Alzheimer’s disease up to six years earlier than current diagnostic methods.

The research is part of a new wave of work using machine learning technology to identify subtle patterns in complex medical imaging data that human clinicians are unable to pick up. Continue reading… “Deep learning algorithm detects Alzheimer’s up to six years before doctors”

Alzheimer's Disease, Health & Fitness, Human Behavior, New Viewpoints, Transportation

The healthiest people in the world don’t go to the gym

November 15, 2018

If you want to be as healthy as possible, there are no treadmills or weight machines required. Don’t just take my word for it—look to the longest-lived people in the world for proof.

People in the world’s Blue Zones—the places around the world with the highest life expectancy—don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms.

Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without even thinking about it. This means that they grow gardens, walk throughout the day, and minimize mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.

In fact, Blue Zones researchers determined that routine natural movement is one of the most impactful ways to increase your life span, and a common habit among the world’s longest-lived populations.

Continue reading… “The healthiest people in the world don’t go to the gym”

Alzheimer's Disease, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Eye scan may detect Alzheimer’s disease in seconds

November 7, 2018

Two new studies now suggest that a noninvasive eye scan could soon be used to catch Alzheimer’s disease early.

A simple eye scan may soon detect Alzheimer’s in a matter of seconds.

The world’s population is aging rapidly and the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise.

For this reason, the need for efficient dementia screening methods that can be applied to millions of people is dire.

Continue reading… “Eye scan may detect Alzheimer’s disease in seconds”

Alzheimer's Disease, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine

Senolytic therapies seem to stop Alzheimer’s disease ‘in its tracks’

September 30, 2018

Scientists at the University of Texas have implicated a type of cellular stress for the first time as a player in Alzheimer’s disease. And their discovery could lead to treatments for more than 20 human brain diseases including Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injury. One author of the study went as far as to say the treatment that researchers used on mice to rid them of the stressed cells actually stopped Alzheimer’s disease “in its tracks.”

Researchers at the The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, now called UT Health San Antonio® established a link between tau tangles and the stressed or senescent cells they found in Alzheimer’s-diseased tissue. Senescence is the process by which cells irreversibly stop dividing or growing without actually dying. Already proven to be involved in cancer and aging, tau protein accumulation is known to exist in 20 human brain diseases. “Tau protein accumulation is the most common pathology among degenerative brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and over twenty others,” the research paper notes.

Continue reading… “Senolytic therapies seem to stop Alzheimer’s disease ‘in its tracks’”

Alzheimer's Disease, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine

Young people’s blood could help treat Alzheimer’s

November 6, 2017

It sounds more like science fiction than real world science, but researchers at Stanford University announced the first results of a novel study in which they infused blood from young donors into a small number of people with mild to moderate forms of Alzheimer’s disease in the hopes of improving the disease’s symptoms.

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Alzheimer's Disease, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Report

At what age do you become ‘old?’ Here’s what four different generations think

June 17, 2017

If age really is just a number, what number marks old age? Well, the answer to that depends on how old you are now.

Millennials hold the least generous views on aging, saying that you are old beginning at just 59, according to a new study by U.S. Trust. Older groups, however, put the starting point further out.

Continue reading… “At what age do you become ‘old?’ Here’s what four different generations think”

AI, Alzheimer's Disease, Brain, brain hacking, brain-computer interfaces, Breakthrough Thinking, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine, Memory

Robot completes 2-hour brain surgery in just 2.5 minutes

May 21, 2017

Brain surgery is precision business, and one slip can spell doom for affected patients. Even in one of the most skilled jobs in the world, human error can still be a factor.

Researchers from the University of Utah are looking to provide less opportunity for those errors to occur. A robot that the team is developing is able to reduce the time it takes to complete a complicated procedure by 50 times.

Continue reading… “Robot completes 2-hour brain surgery in just 2.5 minutes”